Slot machines, such as video poker, video keno or video blackjack devices (hereinafter, collectively referred to as "slot machines") or other electronic gaming devices, such as arcade video games, are an important source of income for the gaming industry and arcades. Accordingly, many casinos and arcades constantly search for marketing strategies and programs to appeal to players and to distinguish their electronic gaming devices from competitors in the industry. For example, as an added incentive to play the slot machines, many casinos offer "slot club" programs to reward slot machine players. Each player in a slot club is generally issued a player tracking card encoded with his identification number. The casino awards "player reward points" for the player as he plays slot machines in that casino. The "player reward points" can generally be redeemed for merchandise or services at the casino hotel. In many cases, however, these incentives may not be sufficient to attract new players or to retain existing casino players at slot machines.
Thus, a number of programs have been implemented or suggested in an attempt to retain players at slot machines and other electronic gaming devices. For example, many casinos provide players with various forms of entertainment and services directly at the slot machine. U.S. Pat. No. 5,259,613, entitled "Casino Entertainment System", discloses an entertainment system for slot players in a casino which includes audio/video equipment at each slot machine for communicating with a central control station. The operator at the central station selects audio/video programming from a menu of available selections, for presentation at one or more of the slot machines in the casino. The available audio/video programming is obtained from a number of conventional sources, including a VCR, an audio tape deck, a live camera or microphone and commercial television broadcasting sources, including cable television programming.
Unfortunately, such conventional casino and arcade entertainment systems have experienced only marginal success in retaining players at slot machines and other electronic gaming devices. Since many players can already access a wide variety of programming sources directly from their home, the current video programming is generally not a sufficient novelty to keep a player playing at a slot machine.
In addition, it is well known that many hotels and casinos provide their guests with a variety of "in room"entertainment services, including pay-per-view video programming. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,488,411, entitled "Interactive System for a Closed Cable Network" (the "'411 Patent"), which describes a video-on-demand system, for use in a hotel or hospital environment. The '411 Patent discloses a system having a connection to each hotel room for presentation of various multimedia information, including premium pay-per-view services from remote sources. In addition to connecting guests to remote pay-per-view sources, a guest can access a gaming device, such as a video slot machine, for play from their private room via the closed cable network. The system disclosed in the '411 Patent, however, does not permit a guest to simultaneously access such gaming devices, while viewing a premium pay-per-view service.
As apparent from the above-described deficiencies with conventional systems for retaining players at electronic gaming devices, such as slot machines, a need exists for an electronic gaming system that allows players to access premium entertainment services, such as premium web sites, pay-per-view services and shared-revenue telephone services, such as 900 or 976 services, directly from the slot machine or other electronic gaming device as an incentive for continued play. In addition, a further need exists for an electronic gaming system which evaluates the current level of play or prior playing history of a particular player for determining whether the player is entitled to access the premium entertainment services. Yet another need exists for a publicly accessible electronic gaming system which permits coins to be deposited as payment for access to a premium entertainment service, regardless of whether or not the player is actually playing the electronic gaming device.